What are the Common Core State Standards?* * (and why should folks in higher education care)?

1. What are the Common Core State Standards?* *(and why should folks in higher education care)? Jeff Hittenberger, Ph.D. Chief Academic Officer

2. What are the Common Core State Standards (CCSS)? • What should students know and be able to do by the time they graduate from high school? (Stated as Math and English Language Arts standards, but intended to be integrated in all subject areas) • What should they know and be able to do at each level of their development? • What competencies and habits of mind will equip students for college and career readiness and success?

3. Where did they come from? • Early 1990s: Development of standards state-by-state • 1997-98: Adoption of California standards for English, Math, Science, and History/Social Science • 2001: No Child Left Behind mandates that all states adopt standards

4. Where did they come from? • 1996: Nation’s governors establish Achieve, develop an early set of college readiness standards. • 2002: Partnership for 21st Century Skills. National surveys of employers and development of the 4Cs model. • 2009: National Governors Association (NGA) and Council of Chief State Schools Officers (CCSSO) initiate development of CCSS.

5. Who adopted them? • 2010: Adopted by the California State Board of Education based on a process initiated by the legislature and signed by then-Governor Schwarzenegger • Also adopted voluntarily by 45 other states, now in various stages of implementation

6. Why do we need them? • International assessments • International benchmarking • Beyond memorization and multiple choice • Conceptual depth • Real-world application • Beyond remediation • Inadequacy of a high-school diploma

7. What will they mean for students and teachers? In ELA: • Teachers will need to balance teaching of literary texts with informational texts (across all subjects) • Students will learn to use evidence from texts systematically to support and illustrate their arguments and responses to key questions • Focus is on transferability of skills across subject areas and into real-world settings.

8. What will they mean for students and teachers? In Math: • Instruction will focus on key concepts • Students will need to understand deeply the foundational mathematical knowledge they are taught at each grade level. • The math in the CCSS is designed to be applied in a wide variety of settings and situations, most of them outside the math classroom setting. - Adapted from New York Department of Education

9. Who supports them? • California School Boards Association • California Teachers Association • California Parent Teacher Association • Association of California School Administrators • California County Superintendents Educational Services Association

10. What IS their relevance for higher education? • Encouraging linkages • Emphasizing college and career readiness • Lowering remediation • Encouraging career pathways for use of knowledge in real-world settings

11. Where can I learn More? • Collaboration with your local schools, districts, and county offices • Brochure – ocde.us • January 27: Dr. David Conley speaking at the Irvine Marriott, author of College, Careers, and the Common Core – See ocde.us